SERVICE IN PACIFIC

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 4 August 1945, Page 4

SERVICE IN PACIFIC

TO COUNT AS FULL SERVICE (From Our Parliamentary Reporter) Wellington, August 3. Service in the Pacific is to count in the same way as other overseas service. The Leader of the Opposition (Mr Holland) disclosed this in the House of Representatives when he was speaking in the debate on New Zealand’s future war effort. Mr Holland said the question of what credit was to be given for Pacific service had w'orried him for a long time. The authorities in Italy had stated apparently that it was going to count two-thirds. He had received a great many letters on the subject and he had taken the matter up urging that Pacific service should count as full service, but only that day had the Minister of Defence advised him that the Pacific service was to count in exactly the same way as other service. The Minister of Finance (Mr Nash): That decision was made at the beginning. three or four months ago. Mr Holland said that if that were so it was a peculiar thing that he had not been able to get the information earlier. The Minister of Defence surely should know that a decision had been made. He had had to write three different letters to him. Why did such things happen? If the decision had been made three or four months ago why in the name of commonsense did not the Government make an announcement?